Slavery in the late Roman world, AD 275-425 /

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:Harper, Kyle, 1979-
Imprint:Cambridge, UK ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2011.
Description:xiv, 611 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.
Language:English
Subject:Slavery -- Rome.
Social structure -- Rome.
HISTORY / Ancient / General.
Economic history.
Slavery.
Social conditions.
Social structure.
Rome -- Social conditions.
Rome -- Economic conditions.
Rome (Empire)
Format: Print Book
URL for this record:http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/8437456
Hidden Bibliographic Details
ISBN:9780521198615
0521198615
Notes:Machine generated contents note: Part I. The Economy of Slavery: Introduction; 1. Among slave systems: a profile of late Roman slavery; 2. The endless river: the supply and trade of slaves; 3. Oikonomia: households, consumption, and production; 4. Agricultural slavery: exchange, institutions, estates; Part II. The Making of Honorable Society: Introduction; 5. Semper timere: the aims and techniques of domination; 6. Self, family, and community among slaves; 7. Sex, status, and social reproduction; 8. Mastery and the making of honor; Part III. The Imperial Order: Introduction; 9. Citizenship and litigation: slave status after the Antonine constitution; 10. The enslavement of Mediterranean bodies: child exposure and child sale; 11. The community of honor: the state and sexuality; 12. Rites of manumission, rights of the freed; Conclusion: Roman slavery, proto-modernity, and the end of antiquity; Appendices.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Summary:"Capitalizing on the rich historical record of late antiquity, and employing sophisticated methodologies from social and economic history, this book reinterprets the end of Roman slavery. Kyle Harper challenges traditional interpretations of a transition from antiquity to the Middle Ages, arguing instead that a deep divide runs through 'late antiquity', separating the Roman slave system from its early medieval successors. In the process, he covers the economic, social and institutional dimensions of ancient slavery and presents the most comprehensive analytical treatment of a pre-modern slave system now available. By scouring the late antique record, he has uncovered a wealth of new material, providing fresh insights into the ancient slave system, including slavery's role in agriculture and textile production, its relation to sexual exploitation, and the dynamics of social honor. By demonstrating the vitality of slavery into the fourth century, the author shows that Christianity triumphed amidst a genuine slave society"--
Review by Choice Review

From W.W. Buckland's legal exposition The Roman Law of Slavery (1908), through W.L. Westermann's comparative study The Slave Systems of Greek and Roman Antiquity (1955), to Moses Finley's influential (especially in Europe) Ancient Slavery and Modern Ideology (CH, Jan'81), systematic treatises in English on slavery in the ancient Mediterranean world are not lacking. Harper (Oklahoma) offers a broad reconsideration of slavery from the beginnings of Roman economic and military recovery, c. 275 CE, to the era of the dissolution of Roman western provinces into new (Germanic) kingdoms. His discussion of late antique slavery as an integral aspect of the "honorable" (traditional Greco-Roman) society is richly documented and cogently argued. The author thoroughly reviews legal and economic aspects of late antique slavery and demonstrates the fundamental importance of slavery in maintaining the ancient economy. How did ancient slavery end? An older interpretation saw Roman slavery decline to be replaced by "feudalism" (compare the critique of Frank Walbank, The Awful Revolution, CH, Feb'70). Harper forcefully argues that ancient slavery does not demonstrate (in Marxian terms) a shift from one "mode of production" to another ("feudalism"). Rather, a complex sociolegal-economic system gradually collapsed to be, in time, replaced by simpler, largely agrarian-based, different politico-economic structures. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students/faculty. P. B. Harvey Jr. Pennsylvania State University, University Park Campus

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review